1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices and methods of extracting a tendon from its surrounding muscle tissue, and food products resulting therefrom.
2. Description of Related Art
The inherent existance of unsightly, tough, unpalatable, and difficult to remove tendons in various muscles and/or cuts of meat and poultry has created expensive and difficult problems for decades. The inability to remove tendons from particular cuts of meat and poultry in a satisfactory and economical manner has relegated many of the most tender, succulent, and desirable cuts thereof to the most undesirable and least demanded of meat or poultry products.
A primary example of the above problems is the tenderloin of a turkey. Although a tender and desirable portion of the white breast meat of the turkey, a large undesirable tendon extends directly through a major portion of the tenderloin.
There are presently only two methods being employed to remove tendons to improve the desirability of the meat products. The first method is to manually cut or trim the tendon from the meat with a knife. This method is tedious and time consuming, and therefore uneconomical. Also, when the tendon is removed in this manner, the meat is most generally separated into distinct pieces or portions, no longer maintaining its original integrity as a single portion, muscle or cut of meat.
The second presently used method is simply to grab the tendon with a pair of pliers and tear the tendon away from the meat. U.S. Pat. No. 584,381 to Lowndes discloses a pair of pliers adapted for this purpose. Even though this method is faster, more economical, and easier than the trimming method described above, it also leaves the cut of meat substantially separated into distinct pieces or portions. Since neither of the above methods for removing a tendon from a cut of meat leaves the cut intact, as a single portion, cut or muscle, the appearance, desirability and usefulness of the meat is greatly compromised. Also, because of the meat industry's inability to remove such tendons in a satisfactory manner, certain cuts of meat such as turkey tenderloins must be sold at a reduced price, or be reduced to smaller portions by removing the tendon(s) and sold in these smaller and irregularly shaped portions, thus limiting the usefulness thereof and reducing the marketable price.
Because of the greater desirability of intact, tendonless cuts of meat, there exists a need for a device which can quickly and efficiently remove the tendon while leaving the cut of meat itself substantially unaffected.